I find it insulting for the users of this site Keith has to spend time on this kind of articles to prove to the Hamilton fans that everything is just going about and nobody is being favoured. It’s not what they were screaming in Malaysia 2013 anyway.

I find it insulting when people say “the Hamilton fans” and “they” rather than “some”. Not every fan thinks the same way. Infact I think its a very small number who believe Rosberg is being favored in any way. Especially here on F1F where fans have a good knowledge of F1.

Agreed, The other comment sections about this race were overflowing with disgruntled f1fanatics who said that Hamilton is being sabotaged by the pitcrew. Thank you Keith for pointing this out:

But the service Hamilton has received from his pit crew has usually been good. In the seven races prior to this one, Hamilton enjoyed the quickest pit stop on four occasions.
Considering that in Australia he didn’t make it as far as the pit stops, and in Monaco he had to be stacked behind Rosberg on his sole visit to the pits, that’s actually a very good record.

“But the service Hamilton has received from his pit crew has usually been good. In the seven races prior to this one, Hamilton enjoyed the quickest pit stop on four occasions.”

@keithcollantine While I don’t support the idea of any bias, a simple tally doesn’t tell the whole story – looking at the size of the difference and the effect it has on the race is surely more relevant.

@PorscheF1, no one knows for a fact that the team is favoring one driver over another. What we do know is one driver on average gets slower pit stop service times that have a direct impact on the race outcome. When people bring up this discrepancy, don’t you think you’re the irrational one when you simply dismiss it as “conspiracy”? No one is saying flat out that Mercedes is cheating Hamilton. We are simply pointing out a difference in times that is becoming a pattern. Why do you have such a hard time acknowledging this and why are you SO certain there is no fowl play?

BTW, the pit stop times posted by Keith are misleading. They only show pit entry to pit exit. They tell you nothing about the actual service time spent in the box.

Mark Webber questioned Lewis about his “positioning” in the box on pit stops & David Hobbs on NBC also mentioned that this is what could be costing him the fractions but sometimes you do also notice a hesitation from Lewis after the tyres are on.

Actually, Steve Matchett mentioned the positioning – I don’t believe that Mark Webber was talking about his actual positioning in the box was he? At least I didn’t get that impression unless something else was so blatantly obvious that somehow we missed in the USA and Mark Webber was made aware of…

@KeithCollantine, your pit stop times are misleading. They simply show pit entry to pit exit time. They say absolutely nothing about the actual service time spent stationary in the box. Which is what the dispute is about.

There is no dispute. Yes his pitstops were both longer than Rosberg’s but, on balance over the course of the season, he has been receiving the exact same treatment as Rosberg. Sometimes drivers are delayed by slow pitstops, it’s part of racing.

Wrong! There is time to be made and lost leaving the box. Think of it like a standing start launch to the GP. Only this time you’re doing it from the pit box. If you’re going to just look at the pit entry to pit exit time, understand you’re leaving out vital details.

If you’ve been watching the entire season, you would know stationary service times have been slower for Hamilton at crucial moments. Has he gotten faster stops sometimes? Sure! But you won’t see evidence of the slow service times just by looking at total time spent in the pits.

@PorscheF1, I never said Mercedes did it on purpose or timed it perfectly by 0.9 seconds. My argument is Hamilton keeps getting costly pit stops and his side of the garage is not proactive when car problems occur. We don’t know the reason for it, but its been happening too many times. Whats so wrong about finding out the truth whether its the pit crew, Hamilton, or the team management? If this continues for another 5 races, our we suppose to just ignore it and say there is no problem?

Imagine two team mates, X and Y, come into the pits. They both start braking for their pit boxes at the same point. Driver X stops exactly on his marks, his team perform a flawless pit stop with a low stationary time, and he goes on his way.

Now consider what happens if Driver Y, having begun braking at the same point, brings his car to a stop more quickly. That means he’s spent less time driving in the pit lane. But it also means he stops slightly short of where he was supposed to. His pit crew have to compensate for that, edging their tyres and wheel guns to one side, which might cost a few tenths of a second.

In that scenario Driver Y could spend less time driving in the pits but more time stationary, and vice-versa for Driver X. So of course the complete pit stop time matters.

And of course it’s the complete pit stop time which gives us the best indication how a driver might have managed to get ahead of another via pit strategy, as it shows where they rejoined the circuit relative to their rivals. The stationary time only shows a small part of the picture.

@KeithCollantine, you’re assuming quite a lot. There are so many variables which we can’t measure. But what we can measure(the time the car stops in the box to the time its released) shows Hamilton has been slower. If you look at total time spent in the pit, you won’t be able to see it. But if you’re watching the race they differentiate total pit stop time and service time(in the box). The drivers can make or lose time entering the box or leaving the box. For example, too much wheel spin leaving the box or braking into the position. Those are variables we can’t measure separately from total pit stop time.

@sudd I didn’t assume anything, I gave you an example to illustrate why fixating on the stationary time and ignoring the rest of the data is misleading.

The drivers can make or lose time entering the box or leaving the box. For example, too much wheel spin leaving the box or braking into the position. Those are variables we can’t measure separately from total pit stop time.

Yes you can, just subtract the stationary time from the complete time.

at least we all know that massa has consistently suffered from long service times not pit entry and exit. There is no excuse for Mercedes to always play innocent on Hamilton pit stops service time delays. 1.9 seconds will certainly bring you out ahead of your competitor. like we saw in Montreal when rosberg’s service time was long, ham passed him then the stupid DNF spolied the party, qn is why its always ham’s pits